1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automated storage library for which management thereof is transparent to a host processor, and a program product and path format therefor. More particularly, the automated storage library appears to the host processor the same as does a single, peripheral storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern computers require a host processor including one or more central processing units and a memory facility. The processor manipulates data stored in the memory according to instructions provided to it. The memory must therefore be capable of storing data required by the processor and transferring that data to the processor at a rate capable of making the overall operation of the computer feasible. The cost and performance of computer memory is thus critical to the commercial success of a computer system.
Because today's computers require large quantities of data storage capacity, computer memory is available in many forms. A fast but expensive form of memory is main memory, typically comprised of microchips. Other available forms of memory are known as peripheral storage devices and include magnetic direct access storage devices (DASD), magnetic tape storage devices, and optical recording devices. These types of memories actually stor data on storage media therein. Each of these other types of memory has a greater storage density and lower cost than main memory. However, these other memory devices do not provide the performance provided by main memory. For example, the time required to properly position the tape or disk beneath the read/write mechanism of the drive cannot compare with the rapid, purely electronic data transfer rate of main memory.
It is inefficient to store all of the data in a computer system on but a single type of memory device. Storing all of the data in main memory is too costly and storing all of the data on one of the peripheral storage devices reduces performance. Thus, a typical computer system includes both main memory and one or more types of peripheral storage devices arranged in a data storage hierarchy. The data storage hierarchy arrangement is tailored to the performance and cost requirements of the user. In such a hierarchy, main memory is often referred to as primary data storage, the next level of the hierarchy is often to referred to as secondary data storage, and so on. Generally, the highest level of the hierarchy has the lowest storage density capability, highest performance and highest cost. As one proceeds down through the hierarchy, storage density generally increases, performance generally decreases, and cost generally decreases. By transferring data between different levels of the hierarchy as required, the cost of memory is minimized and performance is maximized. Data is thus stored in main memory only so long as it is expected to be required by the processor. The hierarchy may take many forms, include any number of data storage or memory levels, and may be able to transfer data directly between any two distinct memory levels. The transfer of data may employ I/O channels, controllers, or cache memories as is well known in the art.
Images may be included in engineering drawings, financial and insurance documents, medical charts and records, etc. Until recently, it was not possible to store image data in memory in a cost effective manner. Images can take many forms, and therefore cannot be encoded into the binary 0's and 1's of computers as easily and compactly as text. Engineering drawings are typically stored on paper, microfilm, or microfiche requiring manual retrieval when access to a drawing is necessary. The same is true for X-rays and other diagnostic medical images, bank checks used in transactions between financial institutions, insurance records, images in FAX documents and so on. Thus, despite modern computers, it is estimated that most of the world's data is still stored on paper. The cost of filing, storing, and retrieving such paper documents including image data is escalating rapidly. It is no longer acceptable to maintain rooms or warehouses stocked full of documents which must be retrieved manually when access thereto is required. Optical scanners are now capable of converting images into machine readable form for storage on peripheral storage devices, but the storage space required for the image data--although significantly less than that required for paper documents-- is still quite large. Numerous disks or tapes are required for most business applications. Automated storage libraries have thus been developed to manage the storage of such disks or tapes.
Automated storage libraries include a plurality of storage cells or slots for retaining data storage media, such as magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, or optical disks, a robotic picker mechanism, and one or more internal peripheral storage devices. Each data storage medium may be contained in a cassette or cartridge housing for easier handling by the picker. The picker operates on command to transfer the data storage media between the storage cells and the internal peripheral storage devices without manual assistance. An internal peripheral storage device having a storage medium mounted therein is referred to as "occupied". Once a data storage medium is mounted in an internal peripheral storage device, data may be written to or read out from that medium for as long as the system so requires. Data is stored on a medium in the form of one or more files, each file being a logical data set. A file is considered "open" when it is reserved for access by a particular user and the storage medium upon which it resides is mounted in a peripheral storage device and ready to be accessed. For example, in an optical disk library, a file is open if it is reserved for exclusive access and the disk on which it resides is mounted in a drive and spinning. A peripheral storage device having a storage medium therein with an omen file is referred to as "active", regardless of whether actual electronic transfer is occurring. A peripheral storage device is also active if the storage medium mounted therein is undergoing access under any standard operating system command not requiring that a file be open, such as a directory read. An active storage medium is generally considered to be one in an active peripheral storage device. The internal peripheral storage devices and storage cells may be considered distinct levels of a data storage hierarchy. In addition, data storage media in shelf storage (i.e. not in the storage cells, but instead outside the reach of the robotic picker without manual intervention) may be considered yet another level of a data storage hierarchy.
Automated storage libraries may also include one or more external peripheral storage devices. An external peripheral storage device is a peripheral storage device which, unlike internal peripheral storage devices, is not accessible by the picker but must instead be loaded and unloaded manually. External peripheral storage devices may be included in libraries as a convenience to the library operator. A shelf storage medium requiring brief access will not have to be inserted into the library and retrieved by the picker for mounting in one of the internal peripheral storage devices. External peripheral storage devices may also be a considered a distinct level of a data storage hierarchy. Except as explicitly mentioned herein, "peripheral storage devices" hereinafter refers to internal peripheral storage devices only.
Several automated storage libraries are known. IBM Corporation introduced the 3850 Mass Storage Subsystem for the storage and retrieval of magnetic tape modules in the 1970's. More recently, several firms have introduced automated storage libraries for magnetic tape cartridges and optical disks. For example, magnetic tape cartridge libraries are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,654,727 and 4,864,438, and 4,864,511. Examples of optical disk libraries can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,271,489, 4,527,262, 4,614,474, and 4,766,581. The robotic picker mechanisms of these libraries include one or more grippers, each gripper capable of handling one data storage medium at a time. The '489, '262, '474 patents disclose robotic pickers having but a single gripper and the '727, '438, '511, and '581 patents disclose robotic pickers having multiple grippers. IBM also markets the 9246 Optical Library Unit which is a two gripper library.
Normally, peripheral storage devices and automated storage libraries interface differently with the data processing systems to which they attach. For a single peripheral storage device, such as a disk drive, accessing a file only requires the specification of that peripheral storage device and the name of the file. For an automated storage library, two basic interfaces are known. In most libraries, the data storage medium or data volume including the designated file, the location of such data storage medium within the library, and the peripheral storage device through which the data storage medium is to be accessed must be specified. The requester must therefore manage the contents of the library to maintain an awareness of the information required to access a file. In the second interface, implemented in the 3850 Mass Storage Subsystem, accessing a file initially requires the designation of the data storage medium or data volume including the file only. The library locates the file therein, mounts the data storage medium including the file (if necessary), and informs the requester of the peripheral storage device in which the medium has been mounted. Actual access is then made directly between the peripheral storage device in which the medium is mounted and the requester--the requester must specify such peripheral storage device to read and write data. Again, the requester must at least understand that it is communicating with a library. Thus, in either type of interface, the requester (a host processor or an application running thereon) must have some knowledge of library management to be able to properly interface with it.
Having established that libraries are to some extent explicitly managed by a requester to which they attach, the software for the data processing system including the library and the requester must be adapted to issue the requisite commands and specify the aforementioned information for utilizing the library. The requester must therefore be able to determine the information required to be specified, such as the data storage medium including the designated file. In addition, when an automated storage library is added to an existing data processing system, the system software must be modified to permit specification of the information which the library requires to make a file of data accessible to a user. A standard file access method for a single peripheral storage device cannot be used. Such modification to the file access method is costly and slows the addition of an automated storage library to a data processing system.